Released on September 25, ‘Wide Eyed’ is the second single from Grand Nathaniel’s self-released album, ‘At The Lagoon’. We reviewed first single, ‘Nightbird‘, a couple of weeks back.
Retaining the 80s movie soundtrack sound we enjoyed so much in ‘Nightbird’, Grand Nathaniel, the new project from J Burton, seems slightly out of place for someone from Lafayette, Louisiana, but we’re loving it. To say it’s fast paced is an understatement – the rapidfire staccato rhythms pull you in from the get go, and J Burton’s vocals recall those of Mike Rutherford, of Genesis, and Mike & The Mechanics. Actually – if you’d told me it was a previously unreleased Mike & The Mechanics track, I’d be none the wiser. It’s a beautiful song, and we easily find ourselves getting lost in the sound.
On top of all this, it comes with a striking music video, which follows Burton in black and white as he goes about his day – interspersed with a stop motion animation in paint, freeze-frame pics, and neon – an illustration perhaps of what’s going on in his brain. He opens a cupboard door and sees his animated self – after a slight pause he turns away – trying to avoid his deeper thoughts. The clip keeps pace with the lyrics: Burton pours a drink as the words speak the action; later during an animated segment he sings about waves crashing and that is what we see, albeit a painted version.
 Like ‘Nightbird’, we’re given pause for thought when listening to ‘Wide Eyed’. It’s usually so easy to avoid our inner thoughts; but nowadays in these times of Covid-19, with so much more time on our hands, and often spent alone, we’re increasingly finding we’re forced to examine what our consciences are telling us.
‘Wide Eyed’ is out now. Watch the video below for ‘Wide Eyed’, and find out more about Grand Nathaniel and his music online on Facebook, Instagram, and his Official Website.
